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Message: <blockquote data-quote="bmcdaniel" data-source="post: 6780977" data-attributes="member: 1772">While, I can't disagree that this is probably the best way to approach things most of the time, I think sometimes, it is appropriate for the DM to take into consideration things that are "on the character sheet" and "in the background." And I can't imagine that, at some point, you wouldn't break down and agree.Let me pose another example. Suppose the PCs are trying to jump high and pressing a small button on the ceiling of a room that is 15 feet high. You call for an Athletics check to simulate the combined difficulty of jumping high and touching the small button in mid-jump (from the Player's Handbook: "In some circumstances, your DM might allow you to make a Strength (Athletics) check to jump higher than you normally can.")Would you really say that the DC (or alternatively the bonus) is the same for all of the following PCs:* A 3 foot tall halfling.* A 12 foot tall ogre.* A bullywug (Note that the bullywug has the special ability:  "Standing Leap. The bullywug's long jump is up to 20 feet and its high jump is up to 10 feet, with or without a running start").* A PC wearing boots of striding and springing (Note that the description of the boots says: "you can jump three times the normal distance, though you can't jumpfarther than your remaining movement would allow").* A PC who is using a 10 foot pole (written as equipment on his character sheet) to try to press the button with a relatively short jump.* A PC using the gust cantrip to give himself an extra boost at the same time he makes his Athletics check (this actually happened in the last adventure I ran)* A PC using a levitate spell to lift himself 8 feet in the air (but no more than 8 feet because he doesn't want to make it too easy)* A PC whose character background includes the statement: "As a young child, Jack's legs were severely mangled in a crocodile attack. Although he is quite strong, all his strength is in his upper body and his legs are very weak." * A PC whose background includes the following statement: "Mary is a champion basket ball player, particularly well-known for being able to jump high and dunk the ball."</blockquote>

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